Statistics Explained

Archive:Tutorial:Editing with Rich Editor

Revision as of 18:07, 7 June 2010 by Debusmc (talk | contribs)
PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!!

Editing articles in Statistics Explained can be done either directly in the markup code or using the Rich Editor. Both have their advantages, but working with the Rich Editor is more intuitive and straightforward.

This article lists the features of the Rich Editor and explains how to use them. The tutorials on creating a statistical article and a glossary page contain the same information on editing using the Rich Editor, as well as directly in the markup code, but from a task-oriented perspective.

The Rich Editor essentially functions as a text editor with pre-formatted button

Loading a Model

As a first step in creating a new Statistical article, you can load the Model of a Statistical article which already contains the predefined structure and all templates which might be used.

WARNING: loading of a Model from the boilerplate will overwrite all existing content! If you want to preserve already existing content, select and copy it, load the Model:Statistical article and then paste it in. If you have inadvertently overwritten something, you can always go to 'history' and roll back or undo.

  • Open the menu under 'Select boilerplate' in the box above (just below the title 'Edit: ...').
  • Select 'Statistical article'.
  • Click 'Load'.
  • Click 'Save page' (bottom of the Edit page, left).

Inserting content

You can

Formatting text and fonts

Bold

Select text to be put in bold, click B button.

Italic

Select text to be put in italic, click B button.

Addition text editing tools

Spelling checker

Select text to be checked, click B button.

===Italic===* Draft a brief outline of the statistical story you want to tell. This will be the content of the chapter, 'Main statistical findings', the most important one.



of course write an entirely new 'statistical story' about a given data set, filling out the Model you imported.

But if you want to convert an existing publication or part of a publication into Statistics Explained format, you only need to copy the text to be inserted insert from the original publication (a Word document, pdf file, a web page, ...) and paste it in the appropriate place within the Model. All existing publications can be downloaded from the publications section of the Eurostat web site or from the EU Bookshop.

The text you have inserted normally needs no additional formatting, except maybe in a very basic way (bold, italic, indents, headings etc.). By clicking on the icons above the editing frame, selected text can be immediately converted into bold or italic, an internal or external link can be put on it (don't forget http:// prefix in an external link !) or a level 2 headline can be created.

See the "cheatsheet" on markup code for the most common formatting code.

Check if some slight rephrasing or re-orginazing of the text might not be advisable (replacing 'chapter' or 'publication' or 'Statistics in focus' with 'article', for instance).

Some comments on specific parts or chapters:

  • Data from Month Year: replace 'Month Year' with the date at which the data used for the article were extracted from the database; publications usually mention an extraction data (at the bottom of the back page of a SIF, for instance).
  • Introduction: there should always be a brief and simple introduction (see Box 'The content of chapters' in #Organizing the material). Often the text you insert has no such introduction, because it is part of a larger publication or aimed at a different audience. In that case you have to write one yourself, even if it should only consist of two or three sentences.
  • Data sources and availability: the material for this chapter can usually be found in methodological notes discussing where and how data were obtained, possible problems with availability (countries or years missing, for example) or comparability issues (e.g. different definitions or data collection methods in different countries). Definitions should not be in this part, but in a separate Glossary page (which in most cases probably exists already, see [[Category:Glossary|Glossary]] and the list of [[Category:Abbreviations|abbreviations]]) see box 'Definitions of terms and concepts in #Organizing the content.
  • Context: Information on the legal basis, reasons for the data collection and uses of the data can usually be retrieved from the original introduction or the conclusion of a statistical publication or chapter; sometimes they are in the methodological notes.
  • If no content is available for External links, See also or some subdivisions of Futher Eurostat information, those headings must be removed. Main statistical findings (obviously!), Data sources and availability and Context should always have some content.

Inserting links in text

Inserting links is a way to connect your Statistical article internally (within Statistics Explained) to other articles or to the Glossary, but also to interesting external information, on the Eurostat site or elsewhere.

Inserting an internal link

A link is 'internal' if it connects to another page within Statistics Explained. The most common case is a link in a Statistical article leading to a page in the background area, usually a Glossary item, briefly and simply explaining an indicator, concept, survey or nomenclature. To insert an internal link:

  • Go into 'edit'.
  • Select the word or words in the text you want to put a link on.
  • Click on the 'Internal link' icon Ab, third one in the icon list above the edit frame (as a result the selected words are put inside of [[ ]]; it is possible, of course, to do this manually).
  • Click 'Save page', bottom left of the page.

If the selected words correspond to an existing page, the link is immediately operational. If this is not the case, they appear in red in 'page' view and now several possibilities exist:

  • You can rewrite the linked words in such a way they do refer to an existing page (e.g. 'EU-27' instead of 'EU 27' or 'Life expectancy' instead of 'Life Expectancy' - except for the first one, words in a link are case-sensitive!).
  • You can create a new Glossary page, if you think the concept needs explaining.
  • You can redirect from the linked words to an existing page which is synonymous, by creating a 'redirect page'; redirect pages have as only content: #redirect [[Glossary:name of the destination page|]]. The page 'EU', for instance, contains as only content: #redirect [European Union (EU)].
  • And finally, the most flexible solution is to link to an existing page while showing in 'page' view a different text, by using [[Glossary:Page name|Text to be shown]]. E.g. the Union instead of European Union.
However, an internal link to a 'special' page (such as Model, Tutorial, Category, ...) containing free text should include ':' at the beginning: [[:Tutorial:Governance rules|Governance rules]] returning Governance rules.

Inserting an external link

A link is 'external' if it refers to a web page outside of Statistics Explained, either on the Eurostat web site or on other 'external' ones.

To insert an external link:

  • Go into 'edit'.
  • Select the word or words in the text you want to put a link on.
  • Click on the 'External link' icon (with globe), fourth one in the icon list above the edit frame (the selected words are put inside of [ ]; it is possible, of course, to do this manually as well).
  • add the url you want to connect to, at the beginning and separated by a space from the selected words: [http://xxx selected words]; do not forget to include http:// ! The selected words should be a user-friendly label of the target page of the URL, as specifically as possible.
  • Click 'Save page', bottom left of the page.

Example: [http://www.who.int World Health Organization (WHO)] returns World Health Organization (WHO).

Inserting an Image

Images can be tables, graphs, maps or pictures. Pictures (photographs or drawings) are normally not inserted in a Statistical article, but only exceptionnally if they present real additional information, not purely as illustration.

In order to display it in an article:

  • the graph or map or table has to be converted into a png file;
  • the png file must be 'loaded' into Statistics Explained;
  • in the edit of the Statistical article a line has to be added specifying the name of the Image file to be shown and where and how it is to appear.

Selecting an image and converting it to png file

  • Open the source image you want to insert, e.g. a map or table or graph in a Word, Excel or pdf document, or simply a screen view. You may have to adjust the zoom to the appropriate resolution, neither too small (for good visibility) nor too large (avoiding 'granularity' in picture) - you are essentially taking a screen shot!
  • Open FastStone Capture.
  • On the FastStone Capture tool bar, click on the drop down menu of the next to last item ('Output-> ...' , for selecting where to send the output), select 'To File'.
  • Click on the fourth item (frame with dotted margins, 'Capture rectangular region').
  • Select with the left mouse button the screen area you want to copy: the map, table, graph, picture, without the heading or title ! but including any foot notes and source at the bottom. When releasing the left mouse button, a save window opens.
  • In the 'save' window:
    • select 'desktop' or any other location where you want to store the file;
    • copy in or type the appropriate name after 'Object name'; the name has to be unique and descriptive - including a year or period, to distinguish it from future new versions of the same data (do not use 'Figure 1' or 'Map 2.1' as name!!!); the easiest way is to copy & paste the full name of the original image (e.g.from the pdf document) but without the beginning 'Map 12.1: '; you may have to do this in two movements if the title is in 2 lines, separated by 'return';
    • save as a png file.


Characters to be avoided in file names

In order to avoid problems, it is recommended not to use / (slash), \ (backslash), ? (question mark), % (percent sign), * (asterisk), : (colon), | (vertical bar), " (quotation mark), < (less than), > (greater than) and . (period).

Alternative procedure via Paint (for images too large for one screen)

  • Select and copy the image in word, pdf or excel.
  • Open 'Paint'.
  • Click 'File/'New'.
  • Paste the image in via 'Edit'/'Paste' (in order to avoid having blank spaces to the right and below your pasted image, you may first have to click 'Image'/'Attributes' and set both 'Width' and 'Height' at '1' = minimal).
  • Click 'File/Save as' and complete or select:
  • Save in: any location where you can easily retrieve the file (e.g. on desktop or in temporary map);
  • File name: copy the full name of the original image (e.g.from the pdf document) but without the beginning 'Map 12.1: '; paste this name after 'File name'. You may have to do this in two movements; if the title is in 2 lines, separated by 'return'.
Characters to be avoided in file names

In order to avoid problems, it is recommended not to use / (slash), \ (backslash), ? (question mark), % (percent sign), * (asterisk), : (colon), | (vertical bar), " (quotation mark), < (less than), > (greater than) and . (period).

  • Save as type: PNG (*.PNG), the last one.

Uploading the Image in Statistics Explained

  • click 'Upload file', third item of 'Toolbox' to the left.
  • complete or select:
  • Source file name: click on browse and select the file you want to upload, on the location where you have pasted it temporarily.
  • Destination file name: the same file name appears automatically here, but now separated by underscores instead of blanks appears; add at the end of this title the year(s) to which the data refer, separated by a comma and before brackets (if any), in order to make the file unique.
(e.g. Taxes_and_social_contributions,_2007); do not include subtitles or qualifiers which might make the file name too long and do not add to the description (such as'% of GDP'), although these subtitles must be added to the title appearing below the image in the Statistical article (see below).
  • click 'Upload file';
  • after having uploaded the image into Statistics Explained, the temporary PNG file (on the desktop or elsewhere) is no longer needed and may be deleted.

Editing the Image file (in Statistics Explained)

The image file (PNG) which you inserted into Statistics Explained (by 'uploading' it), must have some additional content below the image itself. Normally there is none to start with, except maybe 'Importing image file'.

Three items of information essential for viewers should be displayed just below the image (when you have clicked on it), in a prominent way:

  • the title, saying what the graph, map or table is about;
  • the extraction date (month and year) at which the data used for creating the graph, map or table were taken out of the database;
  • one or several links to the most recent data in the database.

In order to insert these three items, a 'Model Image' can be loaded from the 'boilerplate':

  • go to the image file, by clicking on it in a Statistical article or by getting it from the file list:
  • click on Toolbox item 4 'Special pages';
  • scroll down to 'Media reports and uploads', click on 'File list';
  • the most recently updated file is on top of the list, but you can search or change the sort to 'name';
  • click edit;
  • load the Model of an Image which already contains the predefined structure and all templates which might be used:
WARNING: loading of a Model from the boilerplate will overwrite all existing content!
If you want to preserve already existing content, select and copy it, load the Model:Image and then paste it in. If you have inadvertently overwritten something, you can always go to 'history' and roll back or undo.
  • Open the menu under 'Select boilerplate' in the box above (just below the title 'Edit: ...').
  • Select 'Image'.
  • Click 'Load'.
  • Insert content.
  • Replace Title of graph, map or table, incl. last reference period and Subtitle (if any) with the title, which is usually identical to the file name, and with the subtitle, if the original graph, map or table inserted had one.
  • Remove the 2 non-applicable items in 'Graph Map Table' and replace 'Month' and 'Year' in Graph Map Table created with data from Month Year with the ones when source data for the creation of the image were extracted from the database (usually to be found as 'extraction date' at the beginnning or end of a publication).
  • Below Most recent data available now, see: :
  • Replace data_code1 with the data code(s) in the template for linking to the source data (the data code usually be found in the publication or under a table, graph or map).
  • Click 'Save page' (bottom of the Edit page, left).
  • Copy the title of the table to which that data code links.
  • Replace title2_of_data_set in the template with the title you copied.
  • Click 'Save page' (bottom of the Edit page, left).

Inserting an Image in a Statistical article

Position of images in a Statistical article

Image 1 is normally put at the very first line of the article, before the introduction (so that in the page view it appears to the right of the introduction). Image 2 and all other ones are normally put all together at the beginning of 'Main statistical findings'.

If however the resulting page view is not easily readable or not nice (e.g. if Image 1 is quite large), the images can be moved at will to other locations in the article. You can always check out how they look clicking 'Show preview'; but be careful, your changes are not saved and if you go to another page or click on 'page' or 'edit' again, your changes will be lost!

After having inserted the image file in Statistics Explained, this image can now be shown in a Statistical article by inserting a line in the edit of the article, in the appropriate format.

The format of an inserted image (in edit mode) consists of

  • the name of the Image file, e.g. Image:Top_30_NUTS_2_regions_with_highest_volume_of_air_freight_in_2006.PNG;
  • formatting parameters, e.g. thumb|right|350px - careful: the file name is case-sensitive, including the extension - files generated with FastStone Capture have 'png', with Paint 'PNG', be sure to use the appropriate one;
  • the title accompanying the Image, e.g. Table 2: Top 30 NUTS 2 regions with highest volume of air freight in 2006 and index 2003 = 100

within [[ ]] and separated by '|'.

Example: [[<Image:Top_30_NUTS_2_regions_with_highest_volume_of_air_freight_in_2006.PNG|thumb|right|350px|Table 2: Top 30 NUTS 2 regions with highest volume of air freight in 2006 and index 2003 = 100]].

The parameters in this case mean that Images normally are presented as a clickable thumb to the right, with a size of 350px; this is the conventional way to display statistical data, providing the right balance between 60% text and 40% Images (depending on screen resolution and browser settings).

  • Replace the file name, by copy & paste; Note: the name has to be the exact name of the image file, including upper/lower case! (if it doesn't work, go to the file page via 'Special pages'/'Media reports and uploads'/'File list', copy the file name and paste it in).
  • leave 'Graph' or 'Map' or 'Table', as may be the case, removing both others, and add the right order number;
  • replace the title in the Model, using copy & paste;
  • save page.

Stopping text flow

On occasion it is desirable to stop text from flowing around an Image. Depending on the web browser's screen resolution and such, text flow on the right side of an Image may cause a section header (for instance, ==My Header==) to appear to the right of the image, instead of below it, as a user may expect. The text flow can be stopped by placing <br style="clear: both" /> before the text that should start after the Image (see Mediawiki Help: Images - Stopping text flow).

Adding links to the latest data (Further Eurostat information)

There is no difference in markup code between linking to another part of the Eurostat web site and to an external web site. Procedures are identical, as a result, for 'Further Eurostat information' and 'External links'; links in 'See also', however, are internal links, within Statistics Explained. Whenever possible, templates are used, so that changes needed are minimal and usually consist of codes or short descriptors.

Publications

The Model (in edit mode) contains the template (including bullet) * {{Template:Publication|code=KS-RA-07-002|title=Title of the publication}}.

  • Replace 'KS-RA-07-002' with the publication code of the publication you want to link to; if you don't know the code, you can find a list of recent publications or search for it on the publications section of the Eurostat web site.
  • replace 'Title of the publication' with the exact title of the publication;
  • duplicate the line with copy/paste and change it accordingly for any further publications you want to add;
  • save page.

e.g. * [http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=KS-SF-08-108 Acquisition of citizenship in the European Union – Statistics in focus 108/2008] returns Acquisition of citizenship in the European Union – Statistics in focus 108/2008.

It is recommended not to have more than 10 links to publications.

Main tables

The Model (in edit mode) already contains the template (including bullet)

* [{{Template:Main tables|dedicated_section=balance_of_payments}} Title of top Main tables folder], see: : Title(s) of second level folder (if any) :: Title(s) of third level folder (if any)

  • replace 'balance_of_payments' with the appropriate dedicated section containing relevant main tables;
WARNING: if the dedicated section has no main tables, this link will not function!
  • replace 'Title of top Main tables folder' with the exact name of the folder you have linked to;
  • replace 'Title(s) of second level folder (if any)' and 'Title(s) of third level folder (if any)' with the appropriate folder name(s) if the data you want to link to are accessible only at a deeper level of the data tree;
  • save page.

e.g. * [{{Template:Main tables|dedicated_section=labour_market/labour_costs}} Labour costs], see: :Labour cost index :Total wages and salaries :Social security paid by employer :Other labour costs :Hourly labour costs :Monthly labour costs] returns

Labour cost index
Total wages and salaries
Social security paid by employer
Other labour costs
Hourly labour costs
Monthly labour costs.

Database

The Model (in edit mode) already contains the template (including bullet)

* [{{Template:Database|dedicated_section=balance_of_payments}} Title of top Database folder], see: :Title(s) of second level folder (if any) ::Title(s) of third level folder (if any)

  • replace 'balance_of_payments' with the appropriate dedicated section containing relevant main tables;
WARNING: if the dedicated section has no Database items, this link will not function!
  • replace 'Title of top Database folder' with the exact name of the folder you have linked to;
  • replace 'Title(s) of second level folder (if any)' and 'Title(s) of third level folder (if any)' with the appropriate folder name(s) if the data you want to link to are accessible only at a deeper level of the data tree;
  • save page.

e.g. *[{{Template:Database|dedicated_section=labour_market/labour_costs}} Labour costs], see: :Labour cost index :Labour costs annual data ::Labour cost surveys

Labour cost index
Labour costs annual data
Labour cost surveys

Dedicated section

*[{{Template:Database|dedicated_section=balance_of_payments}} Title of top Database folder]

  • replace 'balance_of_payments' with the appropriate dedicated section containing relevant main tables;
WARNING: this link will only function if the dedicated section does not exist, !
  • replace 'Title of top Database folder' with the exact name of the folder you have linked to;
  • replace 'Title(s) of second level folder (if any)' and 'Title(s) of third level folder (if any)' with the appropriate folder name(s) if the data you want to link to are accessible only at a deeper level of the data tree;
  • Save page.

e.g. * [{{Template:Database|dedicated_section=labour_market/labour_costs}} Labour costs],

Normally only one dedicated section is mentioned in a Statistical article, but if necessary the line in the template can be copied/pasted and adapted.

Other information

In this section all information other than Publications, Main tables, Database and Dedicated section can be inserted. Examples are Regulations and other legal texts, communications from the Commission, administrative notes, Policy documents, manuals and instructions for respondents, ...

For other documents such as Commission Proposals or Reports, see EUR-Lex search by natural number.

Adding links to other web sites (External links)

As an extra service to users (and to enhance the 'linkedness' and thus the google ranking) links can be provided to a limited number (not more than 10) of high-quality links to trustworthy (semi-)official external sites (e.g. WHO, ILO, FAO, ECB, UNECE, OECD or NSIs). The links should be as specific to the subject treated as possible and they should be deep links directly to the interesting information, not to the home page!

The Model you loaded from the Boilerplate already contains the formatted line (including bullet) * [http://xxx Name of organisation/web site/deep link]<nowiki/> *Replace 'http://xxx' with the URL of the deep link into the external web site. *Replace 'Name of organisation/web site/deep link' with a user-friendly label or description of the target page of the URL, accompanied by the name of the organisation between brackets (abbreviated if familiar). e.g. <nowiki>*[http://www.who.int/whosis/database/life_tables/life_tables.cfm Life expectancy: life tables (WHO)] returns Life expectancy: life tables (WHO)

If more external links are to be inserted:

  • Copy & paste the line in the template, including bullet (*).
  • Change the new line accordingly.
It is recommended not to have more than 10 external links.

Adding links to other articles in Statistics Explained (See also)

Adding a link to another article is similar, of course, to inserting an internal link.

The Model you loaded from the Boilerplate already contains the formatted line (including bullet) * [[Glossary:Name of related article|]]

  • Go into 'edit'.
  • Replace 'Name of related article' with the name of the article you want to add a link to.
Warning: The name has to be exactly right, including capital/small letters and special characters such as / _ etc.)
You can of course type this manually too (or, alternatively, type or copy in the name of the article, select it and click the 'Internal link' icon Ab, third one in the icon list above the edit frame).
  • Click 'Save page' (bottom of the Edit page, left).

If you want to link to more articles,

  • copy & paste * [[Glossary:Name of related article|]], including bullet (*);
  • replace 'Name of related Statistical article' with the name of the other article.
It is recommended
  • not to have more than 10 links to other article;
  • to link only to Statistical articles or Background articles, not to glossary items.

Assigning an article to a category

To allow users to find similar articles easily, each article must be put into one or several categories (see the list of current categories).

  • Replace at the end of the Model Statistical article '<Category name(s)>' (do not forget to remove the comment markup < > as well!!!) in [[Category:<Category name(s)>]] with the name of the appropriate theme or subtheme (capital letter at the beginning!). For the exact names and hierarchy, see the list of statistical themes and subthemes.
  • If you want to put the article in additonal categories, copy and paste [[Category:<Category name(s)>]] after the first one, separated by a blank, and change it accordingly.

A category which does not yet exist, appears in red in 'page' view. To create it:

  • click on it
  • add a very brief description of one sentence only in the text frame;
  • save it.

A category with only one article is not a problem if it is likely to contain more in the future.

Example for Statistical article 'Transport infrastructure': [[Category:Regions]] [[Category:Transport]] .

Categories

Categories are user-oriented ad hoc groupings of similar articles. They serve as a navigation aid making it possible to find other articles possibly of interest.

Themes and subthemes constitute the producer-oriented hierarchical nomenclature of Eurostat dissemination products, but they are also used as categories. In addition to them, any ad hoc grouping of articles can, with an appropriate name, form a category (e.g. 'Prices' can group all articles on prices, in Agriculture, Energy, Short-term statistics, Consumer prices, etc.).


Number and ordering of categories

Categories are always in alphabetical order. The number of categories has no limit in theory, but categories should only be added if they offer a real service to users for finding similar articles.

Assigning an article to a Unit

All pages are assigned to a Unit, which is responsible for their content. This is done by placing every page into a topic category. Topic categories, starting with X_, are internal categories, hidden from outside users. They are only shown in edit mode. Each page must have exactly one topic category.

In order to assign your article to a Unit, replace <X_topic> with the appropriate topic in {{Unit|topic=<X_topic>}}; all topics are linked automatically to the responsible Unit (see list of all topics and their corresponding Unit), and will be re-allocated automatically in case of a reorgaisation.

Validating an article

You don't need to do anything for this. The wiki system automatically notifies administrators of any new article or change in an existing one. Old and new versions can very easily be compared and the quality of the changes evaluated.

The Statistics Explained Governance rules provide for a quick validation by Unit D4 Dissemination, accepting and making public small changes immediately and sending significant content changes not from the unit owning a page to the unit owning it for validation. All Statistical articles are the responsibility of one unit. Validation should be rapid.

Opening up the article for viewers

When your article is finished, at least for the time being, remove the line with PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION ! on top, as well as the two blank lines behind it.

See also

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